Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced that it will open a new region in Malaysia to house its data centre operations. Developers, startups, entrepreneurs, and companies, as well as governmental, educational, and charitable organisations, will have more options for serving end-users and operating applications from data centres in Malaysia thanks to the new Amazon region. Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to invest USD $6 billion (about MYR RM25.5 billion) in Malaysia by 2037 as part of its dedication to the region.
In attendance via video, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia said, “AWS has committed to the largest international technology investment to date in Malaysia, which will advance our Malaysia Madani vision of a highly skilled, innovative, prosperous, and sustainable economy.”
This dedication grants local businesses of all sizes in Malaysia access to AWS’s world-class infrastructures, cutting-edge technologies, and cloud skills programmes, all of which will facilitate their growth and expansion on a global scale, foster the development of a highly skilled labour force, generate new employment opportunities, and contribute to sustainable economic expansion. AWS’s announcement today seems like a huge boost for Malaysia’s position as a digital economy leader on a global scale, and we’re excited to continue working with them to realise Malaysia’s cloud-first goals.
From left to right: Chuah Seng Heng, Country Manager, Worldwide Public Sector, AWS Malaysia; Azhar Abdullah, Head of Enterprise, AWS Malaysia; YB Tuan Mustapha Bin Sakmud, Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Malaysia; YM Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Kamadjaja Aziz, President and Group Chief Executive Officer, PETRONAS; Conor McNamara, Managing Director, AWS ASEAN; Mai-Lan Tomsen-Bukovec, Vice President Technology, AWS; YB Tuan Mohd Rafizi Bin Ramli, Minister of Economy, Malaysia; YBSenator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Bin Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of International Trade and Industry, Malaysia; YB Puan Teo Nie Ching, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital, Malaysia; Eric Conrad, Regional Managing Director, AWS ASEAN; and Quint Simon, Head of Public Policy, AWS APJ.
Amazon Web Services Vice President of Technology Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, who was also present, said that the opening of this new AWS region demonstrates the company’s long-term dedication to the Malaysian market and its dedication to meeting the region’s rapidly expanding demand for cloud services.
“We are proud to support Malaysia’s digital transformation with the highest levels of security and reliability available on AWS cloud infrastructure,” said Mai-Lan. She went on to say that AWS is excited to work with Malaysian institutions, startups, and companies to bring cloud-powered applications to the market in order to boost economic growth across the country and to create local job opportunities, training programmes, and educational resources in the areas surrounding their data centres.
AWS Customers and Partners Welcome the Malaysian Region
Malaysian businesses are among the millions of satisfied users in over 190 countries that Amazon Web Services serves. It seems like Malaysian businesses use AWS because it allows them to be more innovative, efficient with their spending, and quick to market. Astro Malaysia Berhad, Axiata Group, Bank Islam Malaysia, CelcomDigi, Johor Corporation, PayNet, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation, BeEducation, Cybersecurity Malaysia, Department of Statistics Malaysia, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, Pos Malaysia, and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) are just a few of the companies in Malaysia that have chosen to use AWS products as a part of their organisations’ methods of tackling digital transformation. Here is the thing, in Malaysia, not only these aforementioned big companies are utilising AWS’s services but Malaysian startups and SMBs like Baba Products, Carsome, Omesti Berhad, and StoreHub are also using AWS to grow quickly on a national and international scale.
Thousands of companies all over the world, including ISVs and SIs, make up the AWS Partner Network. The Amazon Partner Network (APN) assists AWS Partners by offering them business, technical, marketing, and go-to-market resources to aid in the development of cutting-edge solutions and services on AWS. AWS Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Systems Integrators (SIs), and consulting partners assist businesses and government agencies in migrating to AWS, deploying essential applications, and managing their cloud infrastructures. Axrail, eCloudvalley, Exabytes, G-AsiaPacific, GHL, Maxis, Radmik Solutions Sdn. Bhd., Silverlake Axis, Tapway, Uberfusion, and Wavelet are some of the many other AWS Partners in Malaysia. All of these partners and customers have one thing in common, they are happy that Malaysia is finally on par with the two other ASEAN countries (Singapore and Indonesia) that have their very own respective AWS Regions set up a few years ago.
Commitment to Sustainability
Since its establishment, Amazon has been fully committed to achieving net-zero emissions across its business, and by 2040 as part of The Climate Pledge, the company is on track to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, which is five years ahead of the initial 2030 target. Since 2020, Amazon has been the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, and in 2022, it broke its own record for the amount of renewable energy announced by a single firm in a single year.
At this time, Amazon has 401 renewable energy projects around the world. This includes 164 wind farms, solar farms, and 237 rooftop solar installations at Amazon facilities. It is estimated that once all of Amazon’s renewable energy projects around the world are up and running, they will produce 56,881 GWh of clean energy annually. As an added bonus, by the year 2030, AWS will be water positive, meaning that it will return to local communities more water than it consumes for its own operations.
The new AWS infrastructure region in Malaysia will increase flexibility in running applications and providing services to end-users, facilitate the growth and expansion of local businesses on a global scale, foster the development of a highly-skilled labour force, generate a number of new employment opportunities, and contribute to sustainable economic expansion. Malaysia’s leadership in the global digital economy and its aim for a highly-skilled, inventive, wealthy, and sustainable economy have received a major boost from this announcement. Malaysia’s path towards achieving success in this region or even globally has now shifted from the matter of IF to the matter of WHEN.
